Paint a picture of UAE residents

If the financial crisis has taught Kipp anything, it’s that research studies are entirely arbitrary, no matter how convincing they sound at first. On Sunday we published a story on the changes UAE consumers are making in their buying habits in a bid to reduce costs, citing a report by Datamonitor, and today The National reported that a quarter of UAE residents see luxury as a lifestyle, and not privilege, citing a study by global market research firm Synovate.

We reported on Sunday that although consumers look for quality products, they are no longer as brand obsessed as they were pre-crisis, with 50 percent of respondents claiming they have given up some of their favorite brands in order to cut costs. Meanwhile, Synovate’s study found that 47 percent of UAE residents said they like logos on their products, while 58 percent said they prefer brand names on their goods.

How can the findings of two studies about the same place, and almost the same subject be so different? We can only assume that they either targeted different people, or they’ve interpreted the findings incorrectly (or Kipp’s misunderstood the reports).

I do not feel that the positions are contradictory. Datamonitor figures show that UAE shoppers have become more value conscious. I think their most recent figures showed that around 40% of UAE shoppers were looking around for best price all or most of the time. However they have also stated that while UAE shoppers are value conscious they are reluctant to compromise on quality.

UAE consumers are still brand hungry. That is not up for dispute. But are they willing to pay the same prices for those brands? I think consumers are being more cautious. People want sales.

And Luca Solca is talking about the Middle East broadly. We all know that Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait are doing well. But Dubai? Dubai is struggling! And what is the UAE’s largest city?